Bitter Sweet
by The Killing Question
Summary: Hikari wants nothing more than to give everyone a nice Valentine's day, but Sasuke doesn't seem to understand the gift she gave him was truely from the heart and ends up hurting her more than he realizes. ONESHOT OCxSASUKE


**A bit of mush for Valentine's Day, though I utterly despise the holiday. Enjoy!**

"Sasuke-san," I called as I ran over to him. He seemed to grimace at me, though I wasn't sure why. I blushed as I held out a small box to him and smiled softly, "These are for you." After an awkward moment for me as he continued to stare me down, he sighed and took the box. I smiled, overjoyed, and said, "I hope you like them."

Over his shoulder I saw Naruto walking on his normal path to Ichiraku Ramen Shop. I bowed kindly to Sasuke and ran after the blonde, my adorable blue kimono billowing around me as I ran. Today was Valentine's Day, and though I did have a bit of a crush on the stoic heart-throb of Konohagakure, I was going around and giving homemade sweets to all of my friends. Most all of them liked treats, but Sasuke did not. I had remembered that he hated sweets, so I asked my mother to make her special bitter fruit tarts. I would have done it myself, but I didn't have the time to learn the recipe while I had all the other goodies to make.

After handing off sweets to Shino, Kiba, and Hinata, I made my way to team seven's training grounds. It was about time that they started training and I hadn't had the opportunity to run into Sakura or Kakashi yet. On my way I was able to give team Gai their sweets before I headed into the forest.

As I neared the clearing I could hear the team talking amongst themselves. The first I heard speak was Naruto, and his words confused me. "You're not even going to try them?"

"Why should I?" the dark boy shot back, "She's just another stupid fan girl. She doesn't even really know me."

"That's mean, Sasuke!" Naruto cried. "Hikari-chan worked really hard on all of these! If you don't want them, then at least give them to me."

As I walked into the clearing I saw Sasuke dumping the box of tarts I had given to him on the ground. I felt so hurt. He didn't even look inside first. If he did he would have seen the note I put in there telling him what exactly I had given to him. Instead he just wrote me off as someone that just liked him for his looks.

The truth of the matter was, I had always tried to be his friend when we were little, but when his family was killed he had receded into himself and shut himself away from everyone around him. I would always leave little notes on holidays for him to find so he would know someone was thinking about him; so he would know he wasn't alone. It seemed my efforts had been in vain.

Stifling my tears, I walked over to Naruto and handed him another box of sweets. "Can you give these to Sakura-chan for me, Naruto-kun?" He nodded, looking at me with a worried expression. I smiled the best I could at him and calmly walked away as I avoided looking at Sasuke at all costs.

As I made my way out of the forest I was stopped by Kakashi. "Is everything okay, Hikari-chan?" He asked, placing a fatherly hand on my shoulder.

"I'm fine," I smiled, though I knew he could see through it. "Happy Valentine's Day," I chimed and handed him a box of tarts as well. "They're bitter fruit tarts, because I know you don't like sweets…"

"Thank you, Hikari-chan," he seemed to smile as he took them. "I'm sure you have more deliveries to make, so I'll let you go."

I bowed and continued on my way out of the forest.

I sat on the roof I often found Shikamaru sleeping at for a long while, staring at the clouds. Soon enough I was joined by the lazy ninja as he sat beside. After a moment in silence, he quietly said, "I heard what happened."

I turned to look at him curiously. "What do you mean?" I asked.

Shikamaru sighed before laying back and making himself comfortable on the roof. "Naruto's been going around the entire village telling everyone how big of a jerk Sasuke was to you. I'm surprised you haven't heard of it yet."

"Oh," I nodded and turned my gaze to my feet. "I guess it's because I've been up here since it happened. I can't really be mad at him for it though. I can see why he thinks I'm just another girl that thinks he's cute." I tugged at my long dark hair slightly, one of my blue hair ribbons coming loose, "It's no secret that he likes girls with long hair, and all the girls always give him sweets on Valentine's Day. I just…I…" I sobbed into my knees. I was so deeply hurt.

I heard Shikamaru mumble, "Oh man," before I felt his hand on my back. Of everyone, Shikamaru knew everything I had done for Sasuke since we were little. He knew how much I cared for the stoic boy, so he understood how badly I was hurting now. "Everything will work out, Hikari-chan," he sighed deeply and stood up. "I'll be back."

I sat on the roof crying for another hour before I heard footsteps behind me. I sniffled and turned towards Shikamaru only to be completely shocked by who was actually standing there. Sasuke stood with his hands in his pockets like usual, only he was looking at me with a look of shame on his face.

"I…" he began but seemed to lose his voice. He sighed and sat beside me. He hung his head as he mumbled, "Shikamaru yelled at me."

I blinked in surprise. "Shika-kun?" In all my years of knowing the boy, I had never once heard him yell at anyone.

"I never knew," He mumbled again before looking at me. "I always thought those notes and things were someone making fun of me. I never knew you…" he trailed off again before whispering, "I'm sorry…about earlier I mean. I thought it was another stupid box of sweets. I-"

"Hate sweets," I finished for him with a small smile. "I know."

"You gave some of those things to Kakashi too," He noted.

"How did you know?" I asked, tilting my head to the side in confusion.

Sasuke looked out into the sky as he spoke, "He was eating them when he showed up and saw mine on the ground. He chewed me out too."

"He did?" I whispered.

"Yeah," he heaved another sigh, "I've been getting that a lot today."

"I'm sorry," I apologized.

He gave me an odd look, "Don't be sorry. I deserve it. For once, Naruto was right; I was being a jerk. I…" the dark haired boy seemed to blush as he spoke again, "I'd like to try those things if you have any left…"

I stared at him a moment, stunned. Then a smile spread across my face as I pulled myself to my feet and held a hand out to him. "I have plenty!" I giggled. He let me help him up before we made our way back to my house. I was well aware of how he refused to let go of my hand the entire way there and how he seemed to be reluctant to relinquish the appendage when we arrived. It was incredible how in one day I could go from happy, to depressed, to over the clouds.

It had taken some time for me to really grow on Sasuke, but once he had grown accustomed to me he seemed to unconsciously show me affection. It was a while still before he had formally asked me to be his girlfriend though people had been calling us a couple long before that time.

After a year or so, he had abandoned his anger for his brother and decided to ask me to marry him. It wasn't much in the way of romantics but for Sasuke, it was sweet enough. He had simply slid the ring wrapped up in a bit of silk across the table one morning before he got up from breakfast and walked into the other room to change. When I realize what he had given me I had ran into the bed room and tackled him onto the bed, water-works flowing and everything.

A few years later and Naruto sat in the floor playing with a mini-Sasuke who had a tendency to pull the blonde's hair, while Shikamaru sat on the couch cradling the newest addition to our family. I was actually surprised Sasuke had been willing to let the newborn go. Once he had found out it was a little girl – we had decided to be surprised – he had refused to put her down for anything but sleeping.

Everything had worked out just as Shikamaru had said it would. And all it took was a bitter sweet beginning.


End file.
